We are all susceptible to misjudgments. But repeated errors can prove costly.
This blog publishes the entirety of Charlie Munger's elaboration on "availability" and misjudgment of behavior. We could substitute the mental model of "a leopard doesn't change its spots" or the parable of the scorpion and the frog. Or Aristotelian, "we are what we repeatedly do."
Players develop bad habits...excessive dribbling, poor shot selection, relaxing on defense, not setting up cuts...the list goes on forever. Until we stop them.
The player tells us, "I didn't do that" or "it didn't happen that way." Sometimes she looks at us funny. We lack film that showed what the coach said was materially true.
Jay Bilas discussed humiliation in Toughness. "In the second half, there was a loose ball, a 50-50 ball, right in front of the Duke bench. If a photograph had been taken at the exact moment the ball became loose, anyone examining that photo would have determined that I should be the player who secured possession. The truth is, it wasn't a 50-50 ball. It was a 75-25 ball...I didn't get possession...Instead of diving on the floor for it, I bent over like I was picking a daisy on a walk through the park...a Cal player dived onto the floor, knocked the ball away, and Cal scored an "easy basket" in transition. Coach K was livid...Coach K ran the play back and forth (on film)...and he told me the truth about what the play signaled about me."
We want to trust Player X. You must earn trust, play after play, day after day. Seek disconfirming evidence. Look for information that invalidates your idea or belief.
I can't accept players "Just watching." Last night we had a four on four live rebounding drill, no dribbling, get the ball and score. Start the players on blocks and elbows. Coach shoots an intentional miss. Both "teams" are on offense. Get the ball. Put it back up. Score. Even a made basket is live for rebounding until the whistle blows. The game honors toughness. Don't tell me. Show me.
Lagniappe:
"Elevator" deception play with two chances for SLOB layup...analagous to a football screen pass.
